Death in Paradise reveals Harry the Lizard secret

Harry the Lizard
(Image credit: BBC)

Death in Paradise star Ralf Little has revealed the new way they film Harry the Lizard on the hit BBC One crime drama.

Now, if you think Harry the Lizard is real, erm perhaps stop reading now! Right, well you've been warned, Harry is a computer-generated effect. 

Ralf explained previously they used a silver ball that would reflect the light so the effects people knew how to place Harry, but now the Death in Paradise star simply acts with a model of Harry.

He explained: "So get this, we use to do Harry with a silver ball that they used to use to reflect the light, so they knew how to CGI him in. But that's all changed now we have more technology. They use a different kind of camera, but this is now what I work with…"

Ralf joked that Harry's stand-in had been a bit "stiff" during the new series filming. 

The 43-year-old actor previously revealed how one director actually thought Harry was real!

"They had this three-hour production meeting and at the end, the director, who’d worked in telly for 35 years, and really knew his stuff was like: 'OK, the last question: Harry the Lizard, is he well trained? Is he a good performer? Can he be difficult?'"

Well, luckily Harry isn’t difficult! In a nod to its sister show, Death in Paradise spin-off Beyond Paradise has its own special animal sidekick in Selwyn the Duck. Selwyn is a resident of Shipton Abbott and was christened Selwyn by Kris Marshall's DI Humphrey Goodman in honor of Saint Marie’s top officer, Commissioner Selwyn Patterson.

Both shows are currently filming, with Death in Paradise season 13 expected to air next January, while Beyond Paradise season 2 will probably hit our screens next February.

The next series will see Neville trying to get over the drama which happened with Sophie. While Beyond Paradise will hopefully see Humphrey and Martha finally getting married after almost breaking up in the first series.

David Hollingsworth
Editor

David is the What To Watch Editor and has over 20 years of experience in television journalism. He is currently writing about the latest television and film news for What To Watch.

Before working for What To Watch, David spent many years working for TV Times magazine, interviewing some of television's most famous stars including Hollywood actor Kiefer Sutherland, singer Lionel Richie and wildlife legend Sir David Attenborough. 

David started out as a writer for TV Times before becoming the title's deputy features editor and then features editor. During his time on TV Times, David also helped run the annual TV Times Awards. David is a huge Death in Paradise fan, although he's still failed to solve a case before the show's detective! He also loves James Bond and controversially thinks that Timothy Dalton was an excellent 007.

Other than watching and writing about telly, David loves playing cricket, going to the cinema, trying to improve his tennis and chasing about after his kids!